


The Importance of Curtains

by radioactiveheart



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, Drabble, M/M, Newmas - Freeform, newtmas - Freeform, newtxthomas, probably, thomasxnewt, we live in halls opposite each other and I keep seeing you changing through your window, will continue this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2454524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radioactiveheart/pseuds/radioactiveheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Abandoned. I tried reviving this story but I'm no longer part of the fandom and don't have the drive for these characters any longer. Sorry!)</p><p>Since going to college, Newt hasn't really become close with anyone, be it romantically or platonically, so when a boy he's never seen before shows up in a memorable way, Newt isn't prepared at all. As he spends more time with the boy he is brought out of his shell, and experiences what he never expected for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Window Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have completely edited and improved this first chapter as of 23 February 2017.

Newt awoke with a start as he hit the hardwood floor on the left side of the bed, his legs completely tangled up in the sheets. He groaned with exasperation as he tried to remove himself from the wrinkled bed linen, kicking his legs until the infuriating material finally set his feet free. He rolled over onto his knees and his palms fought for purchase on the bed side table as he pushed himself into a half-assed stance, leaving one hand gripping the edge of the table, and one roughly wiping at his sleep caked eye. He yawned, and grumbled once more after taking in the state of his bedding, filled with dread at the thought of tidying it once again from scratch that evening.

He sighed, higher priority issues overtaking his thoughts. In particular his plan for making it to his lecture on time and furthermore remaining awake for the two hours he would be surrounded by other students in various states of consciousness and sobriety or lack thereof.

Newt yawned once more, moved his palm from the table to raise both lanky arms above his head, letting out a series of satisfied groans as he stretched. Stumbling over to his wardrobe, he eyed the scarce options available to him before grabbing a baggy white button up, and his favourite pair of faded brown jeans.

After throwing on both articles of clothing, but before bothering to button the shirt to his chest, he dragged his feet over to darkened window and, squinting in anticipation of beaming sunlight he pulled the blinds up in one swift motion.

As soon as his eyes gained focus once more, they widened, and his jaw dropped. His window looked directly into another on the opposite side of the dorm building overlooking the courtyard below. The fact itself was not the surprise however, it was what the window featured beyond its frame.

There was a student occupying the room opposite his, and he clearly hadn't a care in the world for the concept of privacy. His blinds were raised to the heavens and his window was flung open, drawing the breeze into his room and ruffling his hair as he skipped across the floor, stark naked with naught but a can of antiperspirant clutched in his left hand, without a doubt substituting for a microphone. The young man’s spirited voice carried over to Newt’s window, effortlessly overpowering the booming melody of “Love Me Again” by John Newman.

Newt was captivated by the scene in front of him and merely winced and bit back a laugh as the man slipped whilst carrying out particularly ridiculous choreography. As predicted, the man simply stood back up and continued his routine, incorporating swinging a pair of boxer briefs above his head as he leisurely got ready for class.

He inevitably found himself distracted as he persisted watching the student shimmying around his room, and didn't notice until too late that the man had noticed him staring. He was shaken from his thoughts by the music unexpectedly ceasing, and refocused his eyes on the window only to find the student fully dressed and leaning on the sill, calling out to him.

“Enjoying the show?” He called out, humour in his voice.

Newt was so shocked by the stranger addressing him that he stumbled backwards into his room, tripping on the bundle of sheets still covering the floor. He heard a bark of laughter and suspected it was as a result of the thump he had produced as he fell right on his ass.

Gaining the courage to stand and answer the student, he walked back over to the window, not so subtly massaging his tail bone, and cleared his throat.

Chickening out on what he was originally intending to say, Newt let out a choked “Sorry, won’t happen again,” and roughly yanked the cord to release the blinds. Luck apparently just wasn't on his side that day however, as the entire structure gave way and hit the ground with a great crash. He heard laughter coming from the building opposite him once again and without chancing a last look at the young man, he scurried away from the window, shoved his shoes on, and grabbed his worn out messenger bag and keys. He rushed out the door to class, hoping he would not encounter that student again that day.

***

He was heading back from his lecture when he heard the newly familiar raucous laughter coming from the left of him. A panicked expression formed on his face, he quickened his steps and ducked into the male restroom, intending to wait until the student had most likely moved on.

He went over to the sink and busied himself washing his hands, before turning away and shaking the excess water from them. Stressed out from the situation, he ran his damp fingers through his dirty blonde hair, increasing rather than diminishing his impressive bedhead, and lent back on the counter, taking out his phone to busy himself.

He heard the door open, and little did he know it was the same boy he was striving to avoid. He glanced up when he heard the steps cease a metre or so from where he stood, and his eyes widened as he took in the boys smirking face.

The boy was tall, almost as tall as himself, but where Newt was lanky, all arms and legs, the other boy was broad shouldered, and well-built, his biceps not exactly straining against the sleeves of his shirt but not lost in them either. His hair was a deep sable shade, and was free from any restraining hair products, falling freely over his forehead in unstructured waves. Newt was drawn back to his facial expression, but shied away from his brown, mirth-filled eyes as he waited impatiently for the boy to break the tension in the room, to possibly ridicule him for the circumstances of that morning.

He was surprised by what the boy finally said however, as he reached out his hand and said.

“Hey, the name’s Thomas.”

Newt hesitantly took Thomas’s hand and was engulfed by warmth in a firm grip.

“I'm Newt; I’m sorry again about what happened this morn-”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’ve gotta warn you though, I’m very comfortable with my body, so get those blinds fixed real quick or you might be seeing a lot more of me than you’d expect.” Thomas winked at him and his smirk transformed to a sly grin. He let go of Newt’s hand and it fell back to his side. Thomas turned around and strode out of the room, leaving Newt with his mouth wide open in disbelief at what had just happened.


	2. The Almost All-Nighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt is finishing off an assignment in the library and Thomas wants a study buddy.

Newt walked into the library around 9:30pm, prepared for the long night ahead, with snacks and caffeine stuffed drinks nestled with his laptop and textbooks in his shoulder bag. He nodded and smiled at the people who greeted him along the way, not getting caught up in any conversation, knowing he'd get distracted if he did. He had one goal to achieve that night, and it was to complete his novella for his creative writing course before the deadline at 12pm the next day. He'd chosen wisely in pulling an all nighter rather than working on it substantially tonight, and then completing it in the morning, as his mornings often start the way he had met Thomas, and Gods knew he wasn't in the right state of mind to work that morning.

He walked leisurely through the wide space and took a detour through the stacks of books, dragging his fingertips over the binders before settling them on a particular copy with an intriguing name. "Hawksong, book one of the Kiesha'ra series". He slid the book out of the shelf and was back on his way, deciding to read the book in his intermittent breaks that night. When he reached his little nook at the back of the library, he dropped his weighty bag and reading material on one of the tables. The space was furnished with tables and chairs, as well as a sofa and lounge chairs, and a counter by the far wall with a heavily used espresso machine.

He pulled a chair out to get closer to the table as he spread out his materials for the night, leaving the food and drinks in his bag for later. He opened his textbook, plugged his portable hard drive into his laptop and switched it on. Whilst waiting for it to boot up he walked over to the coffee machine and made himself a latte, deciding to settle for the stronger stuff when he really began to need it. As he was about to mix 2 sugars into the drink, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and he jumped at the interruption. When he opened the new text message, his brows furrowed. The message was from a number he did not recognise, and before actually reading it he scanned his mind for recent events where he may have given his number out to someone but came up with nothing. As he read the message he rolled his eyes and hid a secret smile.

"Hey, this is your personal window entertainment, your roommate gave me your number when I dropped by tonight and you weren't there. I was wondering if you wanted to get coffee and talk about the wonders of the universe with me. I'm a philosophy major and I've got a thing due, wanna be my study buddy?"

Newt tried to conceal the smile that had crept onto his face whilst reading that, and paused with his fingers hovering over the keyboard, before shaking his head slightly and typing in a reply.

“In the library- pulling an all-nighter. Come and join if you wish, the coffee maker is decent and I’ve got snacks.”

With that, he slipped his phone back into his pocket, planning to ignore any further messages he receives throughout that night. He spooned two heaps of sugar into his frothy drink and mixed half-heartedly, his mind drifting to focus on other matters, such as the fact that Thomas wanted to see him, and that he’d go to the effort to ask his distasteful and rather aggressive roommate for his phone number.

His focus was brought back to present matters as the coffee maker let off a strange gurgling noise and he grabbed his first coffee and brought it over to the table. He typed in the password for his computer and as it loaded he flicked through his textbook until it opened on the page he was after. When his computer was ready for use he opened up his Word document and began rapidly typing his thoughts in the form of dialogue, descriptive and emotive language.

It had been 25 minutes since he started typing and he had not stopped, his ideas pouring out onto the screen in front of him, showing no signs of ceasing, and therefore his attention was wholly on the screen in front of him. Therefore he was hardly prepared when Thomas tip-toed up behind him, leaned over and whispered playfully into his ear “Hello Newt.”

He flinched at the sound, his fingers hitting the keyboard, making a mess of the last few words he typed. He took a deep breath and stood up and turned to frown at him but when he turned, he became nose to nose with the smirking brunette. His eyes widened when the strikingly attractive man in front of him reached over once again to speak into his ear. Newt could feel the hot breath on his skin and the man’s plush lips brush his earlobe as he murmured.

“Let’s get some work done shall we, _Newt?_ ”

He pronounced Newt’s name so suggestively and it was all Newt could do to avoid his knees giving out then and there. He grabbed the back of the chair to the side of him for balance, and nodded as the boy in front of him leaned back out of his proximity, gulping before turning to sit on the chair he had vacated moments before. Thomas picked up a backpack Newt hadn’t noticed, and dumped it on the other side of the table in his short walk over to the espresso machine. Newt decided to go back to the task at hand until Thomas required his attention again.

He pumped out a few more detailed paragraphs before taking a break. He saved his work as a separate file so that he had multiple backups, then closed the lid of his laptop. Glancing over to his company, he saw that Thomas was glaring at the paper in front of him, a pen in one hand, being tapped against the desk, and his forehead leaning on the other, his elbow leaning on the table, his fingers thrust in his unruly hair, clutching in obvious frustration. He chuckled and leaned over to grab a bar of chocolate out of his bag, unwrapping it and snapping it in two before reaching over to wave it in front of Thomas’ face teasingly.

Thomas froze and focused his vision on the block held out in front of him, then dropped his pencil and grabbed Newt’s hand firmly, bringing it up to his lips to personally receive the chocolate from his fingertips, looking into Newt’s eyes the entire time. Newt gasped and his eyes widened, but he didn’t pull away, he was too curious to see what Thomas would do next.

Thomas, still all the while peering right at Newt underneath his flop of hair, swallowed the chocolate, and brought Newt’s hand back to his lips to suck the melted treat off his fingertips. Newt’s breath increased, his face and neck warming up to a red flush. Thomas pulled Newt’s fingers back out of his mouth with a pop and let go, giving him naught but a wry grin and an overly enthusiastic “Thanks Newtie!”

Newt leant back in his chair, bringing his hand back to his own side of the table and just stared, intently, at Thomas, wondering what exactly his motives were. Newt had never really been interested in having a relationship, at least not while he was studying. He was one hundred percent dedicated to his work and any possible significant others he saw as merely a distraction. That’s why he made a pledge to himself to ignore any further attempts at supposed flirtation the brunet in front of him makes.

He read the first couple of chapters of the book he had grabbed from the shelf on the way to his spot, and found himself lost in the pages, until he saw Thomas’ hand waving in front of his face, his voice reminding him of his forgotten work. Newt looked up and smiled thanks at the man in front of him, and went to make himself another coffee before continuing his writing. He had little over a third to complete, and as the clock approached midnight he mumbled a curse to himself, only momentarily pausing his typing to glance at the clock at the bottom of his computer screen. He had sixteen thousand words left and he knew that would take a few more hours of that night. He had hoped he’d be finished by now, just so he could escape the presence of the man so clearly interested in him, but because he was immersed in that book so long, he had lost focus, and his typing was irregular for the half hour he had began his work once more.

With a long sigh he took his hands off the keyboard to take a long gulp of the cooling drink, and screwed up his face at the temperature. Grabbing an energy drink out of his bag, he cracked open the lid and used that to wash the taste out, before rapidly typing in the next few paragraphs.

By 3am their table was covered with various junk food wrappers and drink cans, and both boys were on their 5th coffee each. Eyes wide open looking at computer screens, willing their fingers to keep typing until their work was all done. Newt was on his last few paragraphs, the required 1,000 words he had left dwindling down to 750, to 430, to 100, and he was finished. When he typed up the last sentence his face was covered in an expression of triumph, glad it was finally over with. He let out a massive groan as he stretched his arms above his head and looked over at Thomas, who jumped at the sound, but seemed as if he was almost finished also. Newt triple saved his document, and put the title and other required information on the top, not bothering to read it through because he had edited each paragraph after writing them anyway. Newt watched Thomas finish off his last few words before he too saved and closed it. They hi-fived in triumph and grinned, relieved that they had finished their assignments merely hours before the deadline.

Before Newt forgot about it, he quickly opened up a new email template and attached the document, sending it off straight to his lecturer as he knew that if he didn’t now, he would most likely end up sleeping in past the due date and all that work would be for nothing. Thomas looked as if he was doing the same, and as he finished, he closed his laptop and put all his materials back in his bag. He stood up, but when Newt thought he was just going to leave without a word, he walked back over to the coffee machine to make 2 well deserved hot chocolates.

Newt closed his own computer down and packed all his work into his own bag, before gathering all the wrappers and cans left on the table and taking them over to the bin in the corner. When he walked back to the table, there was a steaming cup on it for him, and Thomas was leaning on the back of a chair, one arm crossed, the other holding his own cup. He smiled when Newt looked at him, and asked.

“Do you want to leave now? I reckon we’re done for the night.” He stifled his yawn at the last word, and took a few sips of his hot drink. Newt nodded his head, and gathered his stuff, planning to take the drink with him as it was in a Styrofoam cup.

As they walked out of the library, he felt Thomas reach and take Newt’s hand in his, stroking his knuckles. Newt tensed, but relaxed and decided to let it go for the moment, it was 3am after all, the last thing he needed right then was an awkward walk back to the dorms. Besides, Thomas’ hand was strong, and warm, and Newt felt like that was just what he needed right now.


	3. The Sleepover (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt is "forced" out of his room by the thought of hearing his roommate and some girl go at it all night and decides to go stay at Thomas's for a sleepover.
> 
> Loosely based on the tumblr prompt:
> 
> "my roommate’s boyfriend is staying over so can I please sleep on your floor"
> 
> Continues from the events of chapter 2.

Thomas had left Newt at his closed dorm door after stealing a hug and sauntering away, waving a goodbye at him over his broad shoulder. Newt shook his head and smiled, let a deep breath out before taking his phone out, using the flashlight app to help him find his keys in his satchel, and then to find the keyhole in the door.

  
By the time he managed to get the door unlocked, Thomas was out if sight, presumably back in his room already. He opened the door and crept in, the dark preventing him from striding steadily over to his side of the room. He enabled the app on his phone again and raised his arm to see the room in front of him without switching the overhead light on and potentially waking his grumpy roommate, Gally.

  
He walked over to his bed and dumped his bag down on it, before creeping over to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face before the long anticipated bed. What awaited him at the sink however was an unwelcome surprise. A girl was standing there, butt naked, brushing her teeth, thankfully with her own toothbrush.

  
Newt averted his eyes as soon as he overcame his surprise, and looked anywhere but at the girl as he walked over to grab his own toothbrush. When the girl noticed him in the mirror she turned, leant on the counter in all her glory, and whispered.

  
"Hey- you're Gally's roommate? Yeah, uh, we're going to be going at it for the rest of the night, so you might want to stick some headphones on or find somewhere else to sleep."

  
Newt was shocked at the crudeness of the girl, and made a decision once he had mulled over her words. He picked up his own toothbrush, his toothpaste and his towel, and walked back out into the main room. Shuffling over to his wardrobe he grabbed a suitably lazy outfit for the next day, and a bag to pack it in. Back at his bed he grabbed his satchel and his pillow before leaving back out the dorm door.

  
Meandering down the hallway he realised he had no idea which number Thomas lived at, and decided to go with luck instead of texting the guy. Using his skills in locating, he limped under the weight of his 2 bags over to where he thought Thomas's room was, and looked out the closest window, checking to see if his room was viewable from this angle. It was, and Newt silently cheered as he dragged his stuff over to the door of Thomas's room and knocked.

  
A weary looking Thomas with bed head and nothing but cotton boxers on answered the door after about a minute, yawning and rubbing his eyes before focusing them on Newt.

  
"Hey-- what's up? Did you lose your dorm key or something?" Thomas absentmindedly scratched his lower chest, causing Newt's eyes to stray to a less appropriate feature.

  
"No, I- I got in alright, but my roommate's girlfriend is staying the night, and they're not exactly sleeping. Can I stay the night on your floor?" Newt dropped his bag onto the carpet below him and rolled his shoulder, getting the kinks out.

  
"Of course dude, come on in," Thomas smirked at the blonde and moved to the side, flourishing his arm towards the dimly lit room to welcome Newt inside. Newt dragged his bags into the space, and blushed when he caught Thomas leering at his behind as he turned back towards him to speak.

  
Thomas gave him a dark grin and leant back against the door, closing it firmly. He began to stalk towards Newt predatorily and the boys’ breath caught in his throat at the thought of Thomas grabbing him by the hips and kissing him, but his thoughts were quelled when Thomas merely took his bags from him, ruffled his hair and walked past him to the curiously unoccupied bed at the other side of the room.

  
Newts cheeks filled with embarrassment at what he thought Thomas was about to do, and he mentally shook himself, turning towards Thomas and inquiring,

  
"So where's your roommate?" He gestured towards the empty bed.

  
"He’s probably out running, either that or possibly anything else in the world to avoid me." Thomas said, snickering.

  
"Dare I ask?" Newt raised his eyebrow curiously, complementing the amused glint in his eyes.

  
"Let's get you settled in first before we begin story time." Thomas let out a bark of laughter and began to drag out the small chest of drawers from between the beds.

  
"Alright, and what are you doing?" Newt furrowed his brow, and stepped out of the path of the furniture being moved.

  
"We're having a sleepover dude, this is the best way. You'll see." Thomas then pushed the beds together and Newt, finally realising what Thomas was doing, blushed scarlet.

  
After they had gotten the beds set up Thomas had insisted they treat this like a real sleepover, with early morning snacks, dumb party games and barely any sleep at all.

  
Newt had finally, yet reluctantly agreed, as it was a Friday the next day, and he had no actual lectures or tutes to attend until mid afternoon, not to mention he had passed up all assignments and his next earliest due date was this time the following week.

  
So as Thomas jogged down the hallway to raid the vending machines for chips and chocolate, he kept himself busy by changing into his pyjamas, (usually nothing but a pair of flannel bottoms, but due to his current predicament, tonight they would be paired with a loose singlet for modesty.)

  
By the time Thomas came back with an armful of junk food plus a suspicious protrusion underneath the college hoodie he had thrown on to run down the hall. He walked over to the bed and Newts suspicions were confirmed when Thomas dropped his yield from his arm and pulled out the hem of the hoodie from where it was tucked into the waistband of his shorts, causing a large amount of various foods and cans of drink to bounce onto the bed surface.

  
Once the contents of his sweatshirt had been emptied out onto the sheets in front of him, Thomas grabbed the back of his hoodie and pulled it over his head, his muscles rippling along his abdomen as he threw it behind him, leaping onto the bed in front of him and handing Newt one of the cans, which turned out to be full of cheap booze.

  
"Let's start off with a game of truth or dare, so we can get to know each other better." Thomas' face spread into a cheeky grin and he winked, taking a swig of his own beer, and reaching for a packet of chips.

  
Newt fumbled with the lid of the can, and when it opened, he hid his small blush by taking a swig of the stuff. Knowing he wouldn't be getting much sleep in what was left of the night ahead, Newt nodded and reached for a snack.


End file.
